THEATER REVIEW / ‘BIG RIVER’ : Harmonious Show : The pairing of Roger Miller’s music and Mark Twain’s prose works beautifully in this play about a slave’s quest for freedom.

Few pairings in Broadway history have been more inspired than that of Roger Miller and Mark Twain. The country singer/songwriter’s music seems to have been drawn from traditional fiddle tunes and hymns, and his lyrics often display a literate, albeit down-home wit that fits beautifully with the 19th-Century author’s rich prose.

Miller supplied the songs for William Hauptman’s adaptation of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The resulting musical, “Big River,” was a 1985 Broadway success, and should pull equally receptive audiences to the rousing Conejo Players’ production playing through Dec. 19 under Dick Johnson’s direction.

It’s a show that’s aimed squarely at family audiences, though parents of youngsters should be prepared to explain beforehand how blacks were regarded as chattel in some states during the time of Twain’s novel--which is, in fact, about teen-ager Finn’s attempt to help the slave, Jim, escape to freedom. Finn knows that what he’s doing is illegal, but he also knows that his instinctive action is morally right.

Peter Sroka stars as Huck, bringing exactly the right amount of peppy ingenuousness to a character who’s constantly in search of adventure and whose naivete often proves smarter than the conventional wisdom of others.

Jesse Washington navigates the difficult role of Jim: on one hand, the guy is an uneducated farm slave; on the other, neither Twain nor contemporary political correctness wants to resort to caricature. Washington pulls it off.

The two main comic roles, that of con men (and escaped prisoners) known as “the King” and “the Duke” are played with great brio by Lloyd Allen and Gabriel de la Vega, respectively, and Bob Weaver appears briefly but effectively as Huck’s drunkard father.

Aaron Pyle is fine in the relatively minor role of Tom Sawyer, whose “Hand for the Hog” sounds as if it’s an older Miller number tossed in for comic relief. Susan Wiltfang more-or-less convincingly essays two male roles (including that of the “Young Fool” who sings Miller’s unexpectedly timely paean to “Arkansas”). And Shannon Dunne is seen--and heard--as Mary Jane, Huck’s brief brush with romance.

There’s fine choreography by Kevin Calvin, and a sharp seven-piece band (including fiddler Doug Atwell and harmonica virtuoso Dave McKelvy, both longtime L. A. pros) under the direction of Dave Pier. The show’s musical directors are Zachary Spencer and Ruth Demby.

The stage set, designed by John Holroyd, is an impressive assemblage of moving platforms, and Betsy Henke’s costumes are evocative--if perhaps a bit too clean-looking for the period and setting.

WHERE AND WHEN

“Big River” continues weekends through Dec. 19 at the Conejo Players Theater, 351 S. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks. Performances are Thursday through Saturday nights at 8:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees on Nov. 15, 22, 29 and Dec. 6 at 2:30 p.m.